Subconscious marketing communication techniques and legal implications

ABSTRACT The efficacy and appropriateness of current advertising laws are questioned as to how customers behave emotionally towards advertising. Contacts were made with world-renowned respondents from the advertising, legal and neuroscience communities. Their responses are documented along with apposite secondary sourced material. Neuromarketing shows that emotive and rational thinking are mutually controlled. The increasing regulatory landscape has forced some advertisers to be more creative and more covert in their communications. Controversy surrounds subliminal perception with some saying it is misjudged and groundless. Suggestions are made as to how the advertising industry should engage with broader application of consumer psychology processes to evaluate regulatory procedures to improve existing laws.